Seril Vaskell
"Rise, Yatagarasu! Burn away the impurities of this tainted world!" A member of the Royal Family of a La Gian duchy, Seril Vaskell has slain her brother and taken his place as pilot of the Divine Guardian, Yatagarasu. A naive girl, Seril is poorly educated and may come off as stupid, but she is eager to learn and can be quite clever in matters she's familiar with. Due to the creature within her machine, she is steadily becoming something other than human, a slow transformation that she only recently realized was happening. As a result, she is both terrified of Yatagarasu and simultaneously dependant on it. The influence of the creature within the machine comes through when she boards it: a merciless beast, bent on the destruction of everything before it. A creature she can barely restrain, even as its rage urges her into a frenzy. Personality Traits In all honesty, Seril isn't really that bad of a person. Due to her upbringing, she's a bit naive and undereducated, but with her brother out of the picture, she's no longer consumed by jealousy. As an attention-starved youth, she'll cling to authority figures that she develops respect for and attempt to impress or please them - Something she tried a lot of back in Helena with her parents, with no results. Given the regular members of the Divine Crusaders, it seems she's a terrible judge of character. For the most part, she's fairly chipper and shockingly forward with people. Some might even refer to Seril as awkward, which is true. With her family focused on Gira, Seril never recieved even the general decorum or etiquette instructions of the royal family - So focused they were on ensuring Gira wouldn't succumb to Yatagarasu. In some ways, she wound up being the embarassing secret of her royal house. Her poor education means she has trouble reading - She'd only started learning since leaving La Gias. Big words can also confuse her, and she has difficulty picking apart the thicker accents. In these cases, she'll often turn to someone else and ask for a translation. This can give the impression she's stupid, but in all honesty she's just uneducated. Seril learns quickly, and is eager to learn. She just doesn't have the benefit of an educated childhood like most people, and has to play catch-up. "Nyu?" is a common phrase when she's confused. It's just a habit she picked up, despite not being even remotely cat-like. Seril is also notably gullible. For instance, when accused of being a Divine Crusader by the A-LAWS team that greeted her, she just assumed that was where she should belong. Being a fair bit stubborn as well contributed to her decision to join the group, despite the fact that even the god within Yatagarasu told her it was a bad idea. Granted, that was mostly because the Yatagarasu feels its desires and the Divine Crusaders' desires do not match. In this sense, despite being easy to trick, being stubborn means it'll be very hard to trick Seril into betraying the faction she's decided to join up with. Tricking her with "Oh god, what's that behind you!" is an entirely different story. It's true that jealousy and poor decision-making skills led her to murder her brother. While the act itself haunts her, the emotions that lead up to it have almost completely been forgotten. It's kind of a puzzling thing, she doesn't recall why she did it - And that's one of the scarier parts of that particular memory. In contrast, the annihilation of the rest of her kingdom while piloting Yatagarasu is a complete blank. She has no idea she did it, and still occasionally mentions a desire to return to La Gias so she can show her parents how much better she is with Yatagarasu than her brother could've been. All she remembers from that terrible night is the words of Yatagarasu, teaching her how to control the machine and use its powers. These memory blackouts aren't common - The god within the machine only does it when it convinces her to do something that might interfere with its plan if she could later question it in her more lucid state. -- Speaking of her lucid state: There are two sides to Seril. What's been discussed so far is generally what she's like outside of Yatagarasu. When she boards the machine, she is besieged by the will of the god trapped inside and it has a dramatic effect on her behavior. She becomes supremely confident in the capability of Yatagarasu and her own ability as a pilot. Seril also becomes easily excited and quite loud within the machine, and most of her thoughts turn towards valuing the experience of combat. In this state, she almost seems to enjoy battle a little too much, and often chomps at the bit to get involved. She hates being sidelined, and her fervor might result in disobeying orders to hold. Ambush plans are very frustrating to participate in, she can barely stand that kind of anticipation. While Yatagarasu conveys its damage to her via pain, in her hyper-aggressive state, all it does is incite her. Some might accuse her of being a masochist because of this. As damage mounts, she becomes more and more manic, aggressive, and destructive. Eventually, though, the pain overloads her senses. When this happens, she either passes out inside the battered machine, or snaps back to her old self and realizes just how much it hurts. Most often, this results in a hasty retreat. It's not unheard of for her to break down, though. These kinds of episodes occasionally make her wonder if she is alright with piloting the Yatagarasu, but these sorts of thoughts don't tend to last long. Due to the magic involved, she's subconsciously dependant on the machine and eventually forgives it for the pain it causes. Seril is especially fond of burning things. This is starting to seep over into her unmanipulated personality as well. It's steadily becoming her solution to everything, and she suggests it pretty much as a cure for anything annoying caused by an outside source. Paperwork? Burn it. Bugs? Burn them. Cut off in traffic? Burn the sucker. She is aware that the flame created by Yatagarasu is the result of a god, and has taken to referring to it (and herself) as Divine Flame. She's also been heard calling it "the Maker's fire" on occasion, and this seems to be related to the religion she grew up with, which revered the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. The changes that Yatagarasu inflicts on her from time to time go generally unnoticed, so minor and so spaced out that Seril rarely realizes when they happened. In fact, she didn't even realize it was happening until she disembarked from the machine and discovered she had a tiny set of *wings* on her back. This was a major change and it freaked her right the hell out. She has, by now, figured out they're part of her body and won't come off. That was a pretty painful afternoon. Seril does everything she can to hide these wings until she can figure out where they came from. As a result she often wears baggy or heavy clothes, even in hot weather. Incidentally, she never complains about being hot, but seems to think ninety degrees is cold. Seril feels this is just how the topside world is - Colder than La Gias. But even their hot water is only lukewarm, which is just weird. Background Information In La Gias, there is a small kingdom known as Helena, home to four royal families of equal status. In the north, there is the Palace of Air. To the west, the Palace of Flame. To the east, the Palace of Water. And to the south, the Palace of Earth. Each generation, the families exchanged control of the Divine Guardian of Helena, a powerful half-living machine known as Yatagarasu. In the past cycle, Yatagarasu was piloted by Jasker, of the Palace of Water. In this generation, Gira Vaskell of the Palace of Earth was chosen. As is tradition, Gira recieved training from a young age in how to operate the Yatagarasu, as well as how to control it. A lesser known aspect of the training is the discipline necessary to resist the creature imprisoned within it. However, Gira had a twin sister, Seril. Twins are rare in Helena, and never before had there been a Guardian with a twin. With Gira chosen to inherit Yatagarasu, the family devoted all of its attention to his training and well-being. While she was cared for, Seril grew up feeling ignored, always in the shadow of her brother's destiny. On the eve when he was to recieve guardianship, Seril finally snapped and slew him with a cooking knife. Quickly freaking out at what she'd done, she fled to the courtyard with the intention of running away. Upon seeing the Yatagarasu resting there, prepared for the ceremony the following day, she hatched a new plan. Seril scaled the dormant machine and clambored inside it. With her brother dead, she would become Helena's new guardian! If only things worked out so well. Once Seril was inside Yatagarasu, it closed up around her and assaulted her senses with a booming voice speaking in an ancient language. Seril couldn't understand the words, but somehow knew that it was trying to teach her how to use Yatagarasu. What she couldn't know is that the spirit of the machine was also laughing at her lack of discipline, and it began to whisper to her thoughts of destruction and freedom. ' -BURN IT- ' ' -BE FREE- ' ' -LEAVE THIS PLACE- ' ' -A SMOLDERING RUIN- ' ' -FLY- ' Yatagarasu's binding seal became weakened, and the kingdom of Helena became a crater overnight. A footnote in the history of La Gias, and little more than the tutorial mission at the start of Seril Vaskell's career as Yatagarasu's pilot. It was the last act of the three remaining priests of Air, Fire, and Water that banished the rampaging machine. Unfortunately, it was far from destroyed - The ritual tore a short-lived hole through the barrier between La Gias and Earth, hurtling the machine into the middle of the Sahara. In the unoccupied expanse of the Sahara Desert, Seril had time to calm herself down. Yatagarasu's voice began speaking in a language she could understand -- Or perhaps she became able to understand the language it used. She spent several hours wandering the sands inside Yatagarasu, attracting all kinds of unwanted attention. See, when Seril first arrived, the extreme heat and her barely-restrained euphoria wound up converting a noticable chunk of the desert into a field of glass. This did not go unnoticed by satellites, and the A-LAWS organization assumed Yatagarasu was a new weapon of terror fielded by the Divine Crusaders. A squad was deployed to destroy this threat while it was isolated. This turned into the first time Seril ever contended with units on the same size scale as Yatagarasu, and her nonexistant training rendered it a fairly one-sided battle. Reeling in pain, she fled the damaged BuCUE mobile suits after managing to disable only one of them. Thanks to the damage, they were unable to pursue. As the A-LAWS unit kept accusing her of being a member of the Divine Crusaders, and Seril had no other place to belong in this mysterious world outside the sphere of La Gias, she sought them out. She wanted a place to belong, and people who might be her friends, people who might help her understand this strange world with its convex horizon. These A-LAWS jerks sure weren't it. The Story So Far Upon joining the Divine Crusaders, Seril felt she should prove her strength. A terrible disaster befell the city of Calcutta as a result, and though the pain grew so great that Seril retreated, her pitiful comments over the radio attracted the attention of Ascian Luddite. He treated her with kindness, and after a while asked her to be his little sister. After some thought, Seril agreed, and has called him "Big Brother" ever since. However, her awkwardness has resulted in others misinterpreting just what their relationship is. Seril boarded the Yatagarasu again for an assault in France, which again ended with her giving in to the pain and retreating. Later, Yatagarasu appeared at Huffman Island, where Seril became somewhat infamous within the Crusade for deciding her target with the phrase "Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Die". Seril thinks fondly of this battle, as it's the first engagement where she did well. Following a comment on the radio in the aftermath of Huffman Island, Ascian had Seril's temperature checked. It was found that her overall internal body temperature was roughly 59.9c. Later on, it became increasingly obvious that Ascian was surrounded by women. The Yatagarasu was later sighted at Onogoro Island, in the ORB Union, during a Crusader operation to try and steal the Amazon Gundam CI before it could be activated. The mission failed, but Seril feels especially proud of herself for how utterly she trashed the Freedom Gundam. Later on, in New England, Seril unwittingly fought and defeated Ascian's older sister during a spur-of-the-moment mission of revenge against Neo-MTV for cancelling one of her favorite shows. Earlier in their relationship, Ascian had asked Seril to write a letter home, which he volunteered to deliver. However, when he got back from La Gias, he started avoiding her. Eventually, Seril cornered him and got an answer out of him. She did get to meet Asuka, at least, but the fate of Helena isn't something she took particularly well. Having discovered her fate is impossibly intertwined with that of Yatagarasu, Seril moped around the Earth Cradle for several days. It took a heartfelt talk with Ascian, and the admittence of her discovery, to break the funk hovering over her. But just as Seril was recovering, Ascian began to fall apart due to his own turmoil, resulting in an unprovoked assault on a Federation patrol, followed by a complete breakdown in the following hours. Following Ascian's own example, Seril did her best to help him in the way he has helped her through similar troubles. With Yatagarasu, Seril swore to help Ascian recover the Mayet, resulting in a destructive rampage across Greenland. Despite heavy losses, including Seril passing out inside the Godmachine, the mission was a success. The identity of the pilot, previously thought to be some kind of grave robber, turned out to be Alina Luddite. Seril missed most of the reunion, but quickly determined that Alina should be her big sister. Lately, it seems that Ascian's plan to take Seril into space will finally go through. Mutations Yatagarasu feeds Seril with a steady diet of magic, which makes her dependant on the machine in the same way as a drug addiction. This magic affects her body in ways that are often subtle, but sometimes not. If she uses Yatagarasu in its Empowered form for an extended period, or allows the machine's magic to run rampant, she'll exit Yatagarasu with a difference somewhere in her body. * Extreme Heat Resistance ~ The first of Seril's body mutations. She has become extremely resistant to heat from all sources, and has been observed climbing out of Yatagarasu bare-handed, even though the machine's armor was hot enough at the time to dimple the hanger deck. Seril is aware of this mutation, but isn't sure what to make of it. ** A side-effect of this is that Seril is very sensitive to cold temperatures. She can't stand snow, and complains that the hot showers in Earth Cradle are too cold for comfort. She prefers her drinks boiling, and cannot even drink milkshakes or other frozen products. *** Bizarrely, she still hates spicy food. * Extended Lifespan ~ The second and most subtle of Seril's mutations. Her lifespan is significantly longer than a normal human's. This has thus far gone unnoticed, and probably won't come up until someone notices she's 40 and still looks 16. Seril is not aware of this mutation. * Healing Factor ~ This one is kind of noticable, but kind of not at the same time. Seril recovers noticably quicker than normal from injuries. It's harder to notice than might be expected because, while she shares pain from Yatagarasu, the actual injuries aren't transmitted. Seril is not aware of this mutation. * Wings ~ This is a very obvious mutation. They appeared the day Seril was warped from La Gias into the Sahara. The wings are a pair of tiny, fully functional black-feathered wings over Seril's shoulder blades. At roughly the size of her hands, they aren't large enough for her to fly with them. While they could be considered cute, the wings freak Seril right the fuck out, and she hides them under her coat at all times. As a closely guarded secret, she has only revealed them to Alina and Ascian Luddite. * Fangs ~ The fangs appeared during Seril's first operation on Earth, when she attacked Calcutta. The teeth don't bother her as much as the wings do, mostly because the first time she noticed them, her adoptive big brother told her they were cute. Seril doesn't quite understand that fangs in a smile can make her look creepy. * Eyes ~ During an operation in France, Seril's eyes nearly changed color. She was snapped out of her aggressive vulnerability by Ascian. However, in a later operation in the Orb Union, Ascian wasn't there to stop her in time to prevent a change. Seril's eyes are now violet in color, and might've continued until they were red if she didn't snap back to her senses. ** A later mission in Eastern Europe has resulted in Seril's eyes turning fully red, a rich shade that almost seems to glow. Evidently, this was a form of punishment from the Yatagarasu for trying to tell it she was the one in charge. * Hair ~ During an ambush assault over the Northern Pacific, Seril completely lost it while fighting against Ryusei Date. The result was the addition of red highlights in her raven-black hair. They're numerous and noticable. When Seril walks, or her hair is caught by the wind, these highlights give it the appearance of flames burning within a thick cloud of black smoke. Relationships Family Ascian Luddite ~ After Seril failed her first operation with the Divine Crusaders, Ascian showed her a medicine he uses to cope with losses. Later on, he offered to be her big brother, something she later accepted. Seril has come to view Ascian as a kind person, and relies on his knowledge to help her learn about the world outside La Gias. However, her naivity and awkwardness has resulted in others misinterpreting their relationship. Alina Luddite ~ Now that Seril actually knows who Alina is, and the girl has taken her proper place in Ascian's life as his big sister, Seril has absolutely no problem with her. The hate she felt in New Hampshire has been completely discarded. The two get along quite well, and Seril realizes they're very similar. She realizes that her similarity to Alina might be part of why Ascian cares about her so much. Now, the two sisters have agreed to work together so they can keep Ascian out of trouble. Friendship Affinity Yatagarasu ~ For reasons she doesn't quite understand, Seril feels drawn to Yatagarasu. If she is away from it for too long, it soon reaches the point where she can't think about anything other than climbing into it again. The more she uses Yatagarasu, the greater the temptation becomes. Lethe Rusina ~ Seril has gone on several missions now with Lethe, also known as W18. She feels Lethe is a very good fighter. Incidentally, Seril has also bumped into Lethe several times within the Earth Cradle, and finds the girl very confusing. She's nice, though, if terribly formal. Seril feels she can trust Lethe if she needs to. Caution Yatagarasu ~ Despite her affinity for Yatagarasu, Seril is terrified of the machine because of the mutations she's been noticing happening to her body. She wonders if the god within it has her best interests in mind, or if something else is going on. Distrust Contempt Yatagarasu ~ The feelings Seril holds for Yatagarasu certainly are mixed, aren't they? Since discovering that Yatagarasu drove her to destroy her own homeland, and then hid this fact from her somehow, Seril hates the god within the machine. She absolutely hates it. At the same time, though, she's drawn to it somehow. It's confusing. Shu Shirakawa ~ You do not warp into a Divine Crusaders operation, with a Divine Crusader IFF, and then shoot a Divine Crusader in the back. Seril hates Shu, considering him a traitor. She wants him dead. He's not even allowed to say her name. Cutscenes |ordermethod = title |suppresserrors = yes }} Logs |ordermethod = title |notcategory = cutscenes |suppresserrors = yes }} Category:Divine Crusaders Category:Original Characters